


Happy/Merry

by HerbertBest



Series: Two Lonely People [14]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Chrismukkah, Complicated Emotions, F/M, Gift Giving, holiday parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 01:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13066518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: Dan and Holly host a holiday party for their friends, and there are multiple surprises waiting for Holly there.





	Happy/Merry

Holly stood back from the table, sighing at the ache in her lower back. “Do you think this is enough salad?”

Dan smiled and nodded – he placed a big platter filled with bread and butter onto the banquet beside her. “It looks perfect,” he told her.

She sighed and leaned back into him. “So we’re really going to throw a Chrismukka dinner party.”

“Yep,” Dan said.

“And you think this is going to go well?”

“I’ll take anything over ‘not a disaster’,” he said. “And anything over Ross showing up and causing a scene.”

“He’s in New York with Barry,” she said. “It’ll be fine.”

He kissed her temple, tried to kiss away the obvious fear and misgivings in her eyes. “It’ll be great,” he promised her.

Holly crossed her heart. She needed this to come off well, wanted to settle properly into the routine of doing things with Dan. The quasi-separation with Ross had allowed her to see things more clearly, had allowed her to take a step back. It was hard not to appreciate him in reaction. 

The oven dinged. “Roast is done!” Dan sang, and she grinned at his clear domestic joy. 

*** 

The party was in full swing when the doorbell rang. Holly had a mouthful of butter cookie and a smile on her face when she opened the door.

Standing on the porch was Ross.

She blanched. “I thought…”

“I’m just stopping by,” he said. “I promise that I’m still giving you space.” He thrust a box in her direction. “Happy holidays,” he said, and shuffled away.

She stayed nestled in the doorway as she unwrapped the box, watching his retreating back. Inside was a charm bracelet, silver and heavily linked. At one end was a bluebird charm, at the opposite end a brass beer stein.

A silent recapturing of who they’d been, one day long ago, at their nerdy wedding. Was this a farewell, or a harbinger? 

Holly had no idea how to feel, so she pushed the box into her pocket and turned back toward the ongoing party.

Emotions could be dealt with later, in silence and the peaceful quiet of her bedroom, while Dan slept, while the world spun on, and while she sat in quiet contemplation of the universe.

While she stood poised between Ross and Dan, joy and confusion, love and desire. The familiar and the unknown.

*** 

“I wanted to give this to you later,” Dan said, as they sat among the detritus of the party – too tired to do anything about her racing mind. Dan handed her a small box – grey and velvety. 

“Well, good – because I’m planning on waiting for the first day of Hanukah to…”

When she popped it open, there was ring inside, stamped with the image of a bird. 

“It doesn’t mean what you think it means,” he said, before she could run screaming from the room. “I just…I wanted you to know that my heart flies whenever I look at you. I just… I believe in the promise of the future.”

Her heart filled joy as he slid the ring onto her finger. “We’re just starting,” he said. “But I can see the world just waiting around the bend for us both.”

Holly snuggled up to Dan’s side. She could feel it too. 

Where Ross stood, where her feelings about his gift lay, those emotions could be set aside, until the holly had dried at the New Years champagne had lost its fizzle. He’d made her wait. Now it was his turn.


End file.
